Saturday, August 23, 2008

case point #673:Democrat Barack Obama scolded Russia again on Wednesday for invading another country’s sovereign territory while adding a new twist: the United States, he said, should set a better example on that front, too.

The Illinois senator’s opposition to the Iraq war, which his comment clearly referenced, is well known. But this was the first time the Democratic presidential candidate has made a comparison between the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia’s recent military activity in Georgia.

“We’ve got to send a clear message to Russia and unify our allies,” Obama told a crowd of supporters in Virginia. “They can’t charge into other countries. Of course it helps if we are leading by example on that point.”Yeah, we're just like the forces of Vlad the Impaler over there. No difference at all. Nope.

Effing moron.

'Course, he's trying to play "I, Barack Am One Of YOU Obama, know your pain," too(does anyone else wonder when he'll get around to actually saying "I feel your pain", just like Bill Clinton?), saying McCain's out of touch, prompting the McCain campaing to put this out:Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people “cling” to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans? “The reality is that Barack Obama’s plans to raise taxes and opposition to producing more energy here at home as gas prices skyrocket show he’s completely out of touch with the concerns of average Americans.”which makes me think he'll either get desperate and say something really stupid(er) and get called on it, or change tack entirely. I'm voting for stupid(er). I mean, this guy has gotten used to the media pretty much covering for him on damn near everything, and I get the feeling he thinks he'll continue to have that kind of cover. Which is prime circumstance for idiot statements.

And other idiotic actions, like "Since having my own presidential seal made so many people mad, this time let's just 'borrow' from Harley-Davidson." Yeah, I'm sure that's going over quite well.

Oh, isn't this wonderful? Why so many younger people support Barack Hussein-but-don't-wear-it-out Obama:Obama is happy to negotiate without conditions, or so he says. He has a new way of dealing with other countries without looking only at American self-interest. This is something quite revolutionary.I don't know, I kind of thought the President was supposed to look at things primarily from America's view and interests, but what do I know? I don't even think he's a leader that "God has blessed us with." I do, however, have an image of Deity On High popping into her office and saying "Do not blame ME for him." She'd probably hear a capital 'H' in 'him', but that's her problem.

Actually, for something else that could- and should' bite him in the ass bigtime, just go to Riehl World View and start going down through notes on the Annenberg Challenge records that, for some reason, a bunch of people seem desperate to keep out of the public record. There's this on it, too.

Oh, my. THIS should be interesting, too:A prominent Philadelphia attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and the Federal Election Commission. The action seeks an injunction preventing the senator from continuing his candidacy and a court order enjoining the DNC from nominating him next week, all on grounds that Sen. Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President of the United States.

Philip Berg, the filing attorney, is a former gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery (PA) County, former member of the Democratic State Committee, and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. According to Berg, he filed the suit--just days before the DNC is to hold its nominating convention in Denver--for the health of the Democratic Party.

"I filed this action at this time," Berg stated, "to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated.".Snork. Hurmmpfle. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A Clinton supporter, 'to avoid problems from the nasty Republicans'. HAHAHAHAHAHA!Damn, I almost need a cigarette after that.

Especially since it's 88 degrees and 59% humidity. Normally I try not to do this kind of crap on days like this, but some stuff had grown out enough, and in a couple of cases close enough to lines, that I wanted to get them cut while I had the time free. Took about an hour and a half, and I could actually wring sweat out of my shirt when I was done.

Friday, August 22, 2008

When I made my observation about multiple Mohammeds in the news, Merle Ricklefs, a professor at the National University of Singapore and South-Eat Asian editor of the sixteen volume Encyclopedia of Islam, remarked sarcastically, "Deep thinking, indeed." Well, gosh, maybe it's not terribly sophisticated. But then again, when you're dealing with fellows who decapitate female aid workers in Iraq and engage in mass slaughter of Russian schoolchildren, maybe sophistication isn't always helpful.

It's got something I hadn't thought of for some reason: the thermal expansion of the steel beams.

Should have occurred to me before. People generally don't realize just how much a big piece of steel increases in length as heat rises. First time this whacked me was the first time I hardened & tempered a broadsword. I've got a long, narrow forge just for hardening & tempering, and the blade fit in with room to spare. Until it got up toward critical temperature; it stretched enough that I had to cut more than an inch off the tang(oversize, so not a big problem) for it to fit. Now think of a beam many feet long and weighing many, many pounds, coming up to high heat... I don't know the formula to figure it, but the increase in length would put enormous strain on that beam and anything it was connected to. Enough, unsurprisingly, to make connections fail. And that triggered a cascade of failures.

I'm sure the truthers have another explanation, probably involving a SEAL team with cutting torches on a suicide mission or something.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

from America Alone:"Europe," he explains, "acts to ensure that television and radio conform to public interest criteria."

"Public interest criteria": keep that bland phrase in your head when you need to know everything that's wrong with Europe. It's code-speak for a kind of easy-listening tyranny.

In other news:The rain did indeed end, after a last couple of showers during the night. One area southwest of here got ten inches, which is bloody awful for Oklahoma. Flooding, roads closed, the whole nine yards. Today, with the sun out and temp rising up into the low 80's, we had the outdoor version of the sauna you pay for at a health club; take a step, break a sweat. Take two, start dripping. Etc.

It also means the grass didn't start to dry out until afternoon. I managed to hack through the new growth in the front yard, but the back was way too wet to even try; I had to keep unclogging the mower every pass on the front, and the back is not only wetter, it's taller. And thicker. Must be the fertilizer the dog gives in exchange for food.

Medical problem is a messed-up elbow, the sawbones thinks an irritated nerve(side note: the rest of me gets irritated fairly often, but it doesn't generally give me this much trouble). Hopefully the things he laid out to try will take care of it. From what he said, if it doesn't the next step may well be surgery, that is kind of, ah, 'involved' let us say. And to be avoided if at all possible. I've had enough involuntary punctures, cuts and slices over the years, I'd really prefer to avoid any more voluntary ones.

The work schedule is still screwed, although there's a little light at the end. Yes, it may be the damn train. Or a drunk in a semi. Time will tell. For now, I'm looking on the schedule as an inspired piece of fiction that may have some relation to real life.

By the way, I think the nannies have killed off the strike-anywhere matches, as I can't find the damn things anywhere.

And I called a friend a bit ago and caught her leaving the house; she'd just had a call that her daughter is in the hospital, details very uncertain at this point. And she's got a long drive to get there. Send some good thoughts her way, if you would.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

DIE!" from the usual suspects- as noted by Steve- and has managed to deliver rain, wind and maybe some flooding. In the meantime, outside,Light green is flood warnings, dark green is flood watch. A little west of here, El Reno and Yukon have had 7" of rain. So far. For the next day or so,Today: Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 73. Southeast wind between 6 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Tonight: Occasional rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 64. East wind between 6 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 77. North northeast wind between 5 and 7 mph.

Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East southeast wind between 3 and 8 mph.

So sayeth the weather weenies. I may be wishing I'd kept that bass boat a few years back.

these peoplewant to destroy the family. And they've done a pretty good job of it.Consider one British parent, Fiona MacKeown, who in November 2007 went on a six-month vacation to Goa, India, with her boyfriend and eight of her nine children by five different fathers, none of whom ever contributed financially for long to the children’s upkeep. (The child left behind—her eldest, at 19—was a drug addict.) She received $50,000 in welfare benefits a year, and doubtless decided—quite rationally, under the circumstances—that the money would go further, and that life would thus be more agreeable, in Goa than in her native Devon.

Reaching Goa, MacKeown soon decided to travel with seven of her children to Kerala, leaving behind one of them, 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling, to live with a tour guide ten years her elder, whom the mother had known for only a short time. Scarlett reportedly claimed to have had sex with this man only because she needed a roof over her head. According to a witness, she was constantly on drugs; and one night, she went to a bar where she drank a lot and took several different illicit drugs, including LSD, cocaine, and pot. She was seen leaving the bar late, almost certainly intoxicated.Followed, unsurprisingly, by her rape and murder. ThenAbout a month later, Scarlett’s mother, interviewed by the liberal Sunday newspaper the Observer, expressed surprise at the level of public vituperation aimed at her and her lifestyle in the aftermath of the murder. She agreed that she and her children lived on welfare, but “not by conscious choice,” and she couldn’t see anything wrong with her actions in India apart from a certain naivety in trusting the man in whose care she had left her daughter. Scarlett was always an independent girl, and if she, the mother, could turn the clock back, she would behave exactly the same way again.Because, of course, she couldn't possibly have any responsibility in how things turned out. 'Naivety'? YOU ARE A FRIGGIN' MORON, NOT 'NAIVE'.

It is not surprising that someone in Fiona MacKeown’s position would deny negligence; to acknowledge it would be too painful. But—and this is what is truly disturbing—when the newspaper asked four supposed child-rearing experts for their opinions, only one saw anything wrong with the mother’s behavior, and even she offered only muted criticism. It was always difficult to know how much independence to grant an adolescent, the expert said; but in her view, the mother had granted too much too quickly to Scarlett.

Even that seemed excessively harsh to the Observer’s Barbara Ellen. We should not criticize the mother’s way of life, she wrote, since it had nothing to do with her daughter’s death: “Scarlett died for the simple fact that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, as well as being blitzed with drugs, late at night, in a foreign country.” On this view, being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people is a raw fact of nature, not the result of human agency, decision, education, or taste. It could happen to anybody, and it just happened to happen to Scarlett. As for drugs, they emerge from the ether and blitz people completely at random. It all seems very unfair.

And you, Ellen, you idiot. The kid was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time and drugged' because her idiot mother left her there! And you are one of the enablers who helps this kind of crap happen.

Read the whole damn thing. This is exactly what a bunch of 'progressives' would like to see here: no judgement, no responsibility, 'the state will take care of everything', the whole damn nine yards. And where it happens, the same damn things happen.

Ever see the show Two And A Half Men? One episode I saw, the father of the kid was asking his brother "What's wrong with Jake? He gets everything he wants, he lacks for nothing, we almost never tell him no....OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MY SON?!?" It finally hit him that he should have been saying 'no' a lot more, making him work for things, making him grow up. Well, the 'progressives' in England have basically done the same things, and far too many parents have bought into it: give the kids things, and family and rules and discipline won't matter. They think. Until they're dealing with a bunch of uncivilized, immature beasts who think rules don't apply to them. And they get that idea because they've not had to follow any rules; except for the 'don't sound bigoted or judgemental or otherwise non-pc' of course, and then, if they do break them, they'll get a talking to. At worst.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Ran into one of these the other day, in .38S&W, and had the chance to shoot itColt started making these in 1908, from what I can find, and continued until the '70's. They made them, over time, in .32, .38S&W and .38 Special. This one was marked '.38 Colt NP' and '.38 S&W CTG' on the left side of the barrel; .38 Colt NP(New Police) being the .38S&W cartridge with a different headstamp. Not a lot of holster wear, some light rust marks on the outside, the bore and chambers were spotless. The cylinder locked up like a bank vault, and the action was smooth and light. And it was marked on the backstrap with 'RHKP', which seems to mean it was at one time issued by the Hong Kong Police.

Shooting it was nice. The trigger broke cleanly at about 3lbs, the double-action was smooth, and accuracy at about seven yards was nice; about 2-3" groups. Which with these grips, small in my hand, was good for me shooting offhand. The only problem I had was it tended to ride up in my hand on firing; if I had one, I'd get some walnut and see if I could make a pair that filled in at the top rear of the frame, to keep it from doing that.

A fine old revolver, indeed. And, I realize, it's the first Colt I've ever fired.

Every once in a while I remember to look at the Advice Goddess blog, and see what she's writing about. Found a link at Insty to this post on the SWAT raid that resulted in the death of Tarika Wilson. She concentrated on one point in the post:Who Places A Lower Value On Black Lives?Would that be a police officer who accidentally shoots and kills a black woman, or that woman herself, a mother of six children by five different drug-dealing fathers, who takes up with yet another drug dealer?

That woman's most recent boyfriend, Anthony Terry, was arrested and pleaded guilty in March to charges of drug trafficking. And yes, before him, all the fathers of her children were drug dealers...and this according to her mother!Her point is a good one. She was wrongly killed; doesn't change that it was her own actions that had her in that house at that time.

Of course, the usual suspects are making this into a 'black lives have low value here' thing; that's what the usual suspects do. Ignore all the other cases all over the country with people of all races being victimized by wrong address, bad tip or badly carried-out raids: that doesn't fit what they're pushing. And Miss Alkon is catching all kinds of the usual stuff from the 'progressive' types: "You're a racist, you hate blacks," etc. Added to this, the Wiki page on her having stuff added, along with the above, that she's a tranny, and any other thing the morons can slander her with. AND, in a usual tactic by these people, spam and other attacks on her site. She's done two bad things, you see: she's pointed out that Wilson(female, so Alkon must be self-hating woman) was in that place, in that situation, due to her own choices and actions AND she criticized the refusal to hold women like this responsible for what they do, choices they make.

Few years back, when Mike Tyson was on trial for rape, I made the mistake of saying something to one of the women at work along the lines of "What did the girl think was going to happen when she went with him?" For which I caught hell for 'blaming the victim'. I said no, if he raped her then he should go to jail for that crime: that doesn't change the fact that even though he'd been hitting on every woman in the place all night, specifically asking for sex in many cases, and that made her a fool for going to his room with him.

That just pissed her off worse. "So if this happened to your daughter, you'd blame her!" "No, I'd support her and do what I could to get the rapist in prison(or a grave; that part unspoken); but I'd also ask her "What were you THINKING when you went with him?" " That was simply Not Acceptable; you're not supposed to hold a woman responsible for her actions, even to say "You made a bad decision".

Either you're intelligent and responsible, or you're not; you can't have it both ways. People can play the word game that you're both, but life won't. One way or another, it always catches up to you.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

didn't settle the questions on the case against Bruce Ivins.Growing doubts from scientists about the strength of the government’s case against the late Bruce E. Ivins, the military researcher named as the anthrax killer, are forcing the Justice Department to begin disclosing more fully the scientific evidence it used to implicate him.

In the face of the questions, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have decided to make their first detailed public presentation next week on the forensic science used to trace the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks to a flask kept in a refrigerator in Dr. Ivins’s laboratory at Fort Detrick, in Maryland. Many scientists are awaiting those details because so far, they say, the F.B.I. has failed to make a conclusive case.

Be interesting to see what the experts say after the stuff is released.

Since Wal-Mart decided to kiss the ass of in attempt to buy favor'cooperate' with Nanny Bloomberg and his gun-ban group, I decided- especially after that form-letter response*- to stop shopping there; preferably entirely. So far, so good.

I'll say what a number of people have pointed out: what Wal-Mart has over about everyone else in this area is convenience; groceries, oil & filter, clothes, garden stuff, some ammo & sporting goods all in one place. And on occasion I miss it. However, it's not missing the products, just them being in one place. Groceries are no problem, happily; Oklahoma City has all kinds of markets, from chain to mom & pop stores to ethnic markets(if you haven't been here, you might not believe how many of those). Need something for curry or whatever, or just Basmati rice at a good price? There's Indian markets, one no more than 5-10 minutes from here depending on traffic, for example. Pretty much anything I've needed, can get somewhere else at the same, sometimes a bit better, price. Auto parts places are all over, and if they don't have something you need they can get it in, often the same day from the warehouse. Clothes I don't have to shop for often, but lots of places for them, too. Ammo? Shops around town, gun shows and places like AIM.

I doubt very much anyone from Wally World will read this, but if you do: I'd been a customer for a bunch of years, spending(I'm guessing) somewhere between $150-300 a month at your stores. And you've lost that. You've made it plain you don't care what I think about your attempt to get into New York by screwing your customers; well, I don't put that money in your pocket anymore, and a lot of other people don't, either. Hope the taste of Bloomberg's butt makes up for it.

*Two things about that letter: One was the insulting 'we don't think our law-abiding customers will mind' garbage. The other, didn't it strike you as being like the clowns who say "If you don't have anything to hide, you won't mind the police searching your home/car/self?"

A journalism professor and First Amendment advocate calls Miller's actions "the kind of thing you'd expect in a police state."

Miller counters that free speech has restrictions. The allegations written about him on a site called the McAlester Watercooler (mccooler.net) are so offensive that he is the victim of a crime, Miller claims.

It's pretty much a given that, for a public figure like a DA, you're going to have people say things about you, good and bad. For him to get so bent out of shape about anonymous comments on a website that he does this... At the least makes him look pretty thin-skinned. At the most?Miller said he provided police with comment threads on the site about him from 10 dates since October 2007.

That prompted two McAlester police detectives to show up at McCooler administrator Harold King's door Tuesday. They delivered a subpoena requiring King to produce identifying information about 35 people who posted under pseudonyms on the site.

King filed a formal objection Thursday, saying he won't comply because the subpoena doesn't indicate on whose authority it was issued.

A legal expert told The Oklahoman that only a judge or a prosecutor can authorize such a subpoena. Miller said he didn't authorize it; he simply filed a police complaint "like any other citizen.”

Whether Miller formally authorized the subpoena or not, it "smacks of intimidation,” said Joey Senat, past president of Freedom of Information Oklahoma and an associate professor of journalism at Oklahoma State University.Yes, it does. And there's also the question, if he didn't authorize the subpoena, and a judge didn't, where the hell did it come from? Did the police pop out the form because the DA wanted it done? Questions that need answers.

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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. - C.S. Lewis

Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave. - Capt. Mal

A Rifleman’s Prayer:Oh Lord, I would live my life in freedom, peace and happiness, enjoying the simple pleasures of hearth and home. I would die an old, old man in my own bed, preferably of sexual overexertion.

But if that is not to be, Lord, if monsters such as this should find their way to my little corner of the world on my watch, then help me to sweep those bastards from the ramparts, because doing that is good, and right, and just.

And if in this I should fall, let me be found atop a pile of brass, behind the wall I made of their corpses. Geek with a .45

"He's Black Council,", I said.

"Or maybe stupid," Ebenezar countered.

I thought about it. "Not sure which is scarier."

Ebenezar blinked at me, then snorted. "Stupid, Hoss. Every time. Only so many blackhearted villains in the world, and they only get uppity on occasion. Stupid's everywhere, every day." Ebenezar McCoy

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling

This deprecation of individual freedom was objectionable to me. I am convinced now, as I was then, that man is an end because he is a child of God. Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man. To deprive man of freedom is to relegate him to the status of a thing, rather than elevate him to the status of a person. Man must never be treated as means to the end of the state; but always as an end within himself." Dr. M.L. King Jr.